Wednesday, July 07, 2010

NYT Photos of the Day: Militant Settlers

"The more militant settlers live in isolated outposts like Givat Tal. Tens of thousands of settlers will like have to move under any Israeli-Palestinian agreement, and many fear violence with ensue"

These are definitely the most armed and dangerous, militant settlers I've ever seen.

The captions on the NYT slide show present a subjective, biased view that lacks any background on the photos. For example, lets compare and contrast the following:

The following photo is captioned:

Up the road to the north, in Hawara, Palestinians scrubbed the wallsof a mosque that had been desecrated with graffiti.Local villagers think this graffiti is the work of amilitant West bank settlement financed by a charity in Brooklyn.

Its irrelevant to note that the IDF and police have not found the vandals yet, despite having arrested dozens of people. In the past, Palestinians, Israeli radical leftists and ISM members have intentionally vandalized Palestinian property to libel the settlers.

Contrast the above photo with the next one in the NYT slide show:

Under armed escort, a group of settlers restoreda Jewish shrine inside a Palestinian refugee camp.

Here's a simple FAQ guide as a service to Muqata readers, with key points the NYT decided isn't important when you formulate your opinion.

Q: What "Jewish shrine" is this?A: Tradition marks this "Jewish shrine" as the tomb of Joseph, one of the 12 sons of Jacob.

Q: Why do Jews want to go there if it's in the middle of a "Palestinian Refugee camp?"A: This tomb, known in Hebrew as "Kever Yosef" is mentioned in the Olso accords as a Jewish holy site. The Oslo accords stipulated the Palestinian Authority responsibility "to ensure free, unimpeded and secure access to the relevant Jewish holy sites", and envisioned the inside of the tomb being guarded by Israeli soldiers, enabling daily access for students and pilgrims.

Q: Why did this "Jewish Shrine" need to be "restored"?A: Palestinians rioted in October 2000, murdering IDF Border policeman Madhat Yousef, and attacking the IDF security contingent at Joseph's Tomb. The IDF troops evacuated the site, and on October 7, 2000 it was handed over to the Palestinian police. Hours after the handover, a Palestinian mob ransacked the structure, smashing the dome with pickaxes and setting the compound on fire.

Q: Why are the settlers under armed escort?A: Because if they weren't under armed escort, they would be lynched by Palestinians thugs. Here's a rather brutal video of Palestinians lynching Israelis.

A few years ago, I made this video when visiting Kever Yosef. Having been there a few weeks ago, I can say that the site is still in shambles, and any restoration work done by "settlers" is immediately destroyed.

Modeh B'Miktsas: Its asjascent to Balata, which is a neighborhood of Shechem.

Check out the Kever Yosef video I put up -- there's a photo of Kever Yosef from 1917 and lo and behold...there are no houses anywhere! How could that be, if Shechem has been inhabited by Palestinians for thousands of years...